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Published on:

July 12, 2024

Udeetta Sarma

What is E-Invoicing? Understanding its Significance in Modern Business

What is E-invoicing?

Sending invoices electronically between businesses is a huge step forward. It completely removes the need for paper invoices and their related costs. It can help improve business processes. E-invoicing is sending invoices in a digital format between businesses. It is an environment-friendly process that cuts costs. It can help improve business processes. Sounds impressive, but what exactly is an e-invoice? What does it look like? Keep reading to learn more.

As it currently operates, the modern economy requires businesses to have accurate, low-cost, fast transactions. E-Invoicing provides a solution for just that, and more. Besides improving the speed, efficiency, and accuracy of transactions, e-invoicing also reduces the environmental impact of doing business—by considerable amounts, in many cases. And that's today. In the not-too-distant future, e-invoicing is expected to become the standard.

Understanding E-Invoicing In GST

Businesses can submit their invoices to an online portal for electronic verification. This system, called e-Invoicing, ensures that every invoice has a unique ID and shares the information with the GST and e-way bill portals. Currently, e-invoicing is expected to reduce businesses' need to manually enter invoice information. It will also make it easier for data to be used for reporting purposes. Whereas previously the e-Invoicing system had been for use by only certain categories of large businesses, now it has been opened to all types of businesses, including small and medium-sized businesses, through the einvoice1.gst.gov.in portal.

Who must generate an e-invoice and its applicability?

Electronic invoices must be generated by businesses that have an annual turnover above a certain threshold. This initially included only large enterprises, but the requirement has since been extended to medium and small businesses as well. These businesses must submit the invoices they generate to the government's invoice registration portal. Doing so allows the government to verify the invoices and also to provide them with a unique invoice identification number. This is retrofitted compliance, with invoices that do not follow the template required by the unique identification system being rejected by the portal.

The e-invoice applicability can be explained as follows-

Phase	Applicable to taxpayers having an aggregate turnover of more than	Applicable date	Notification number
I	Rs 500 crore	01.10.2020	61/2020 – Central Tax and 70/2020 – Central Tax
II	Rs 100 crore	01.01.2021	88/2020 – Central Tax
III	Rs 50 crore	01.04.2021	5/2021 – Central Tax
IV	Rs 20 crore	01.04.2022	1/2022 – Central Tax
V	Rs 10 crore	01.10.2022	17/2022 – Central Tax
VI	Rs 5 crore	01.08.2023	10/2023 – Central Tax

Example Scenario:

Company: DEF Ltd

Turnover history:

- FY 2019-20: Rs 12 crore

- FY 2020-21: Rs 18 crore

- FY 2021-22: Rs 22 crore

Company: GHI Pvt Ltd

Started business in FY 2020-21

- FY 2020-21: Rs 4 crore

- FY 2021-22: Rs 9 crore

Compliance Requirements:

DEF Ltd will start generating e-Invoices from 01.04.2022 as it crossed Rs 20 crore in FY 2021-22.

GHI Pvt Ltd will comply with e-Invoicing from 01.10.2022 since its turnover exceeded Rs 10 crore in FY 2021-22.

How to generate an e-invoice under GST?

The way e-invoicing works in India is that it meets the standards and rules set by the GST Council. To understand how to generate an e-invoice in GST in India, follow these five stages that meet the standards set by the GST Council:

1. The first stage is generating the invoice. A company enters the necessary information into its accounting or billing software to make the invoice. It can save a lot of time if the process is automated because the information is already there in the digital system. The big advantage to doing this in India is that the country's e-invoicing format is already established in the GST Act.

2. The invoice then goes through a series of checks after it is generated for invoice registration portal (IRP) verification. These checks look for compliance with prescribed e-invoicing system requirements. They pertain to both content and format.

3. If the invoice passes muster with the series of IRP checks, it is good to go. It is issued the Invoice Reference Number (IRN) and marked with the Quick Response (QR) Code. The latter is great because it contains the same information as the invoice issued. Plus, it can be readily read by computers, convey its message, and be understood.

4. After the e-invoice passes the validation tests, it is sent back to the business. Along with it, the signed-on e-invoice is also transmitted to the e-GSTN. In the case of an EWB (e-way bill), and if the business has opted to use this service, a copy of the validated e-invoice along with the IRN is automatically linked to the e-way bill system and transmitted to it.

5. Finally, the GST-registered recipient of the e-invoice can access the same on his GST portal, thus ensuring transparency and aiding in the seamless claiming of Input Tax credits.

Significance of E-Invoicing in Modern Business

Modern companies, especially in India, find e-invoicing to be highly beneficial. Two of those reasons are particularly outstanding.

1. Better compliance and a much more manageable audit trail.

E-invoicing makes compliance easier and gives firms a better chance of avoiding the taxman's penalties. That's large because the real-time reporting schema ensures the kind of accurate and tight audit trail that's hard to fake.

2. Massive cost savings from reduced spending on paper and postage.

Second, there's the money factor. It costs a lot less to send electronic 'paper' than it does to send real paper. Over the short and long term, businesses will save significantly on things like printing, postage, and office/administrative overhead.

3. A tremendous increase in efficiency.

It also enhances cost-effectiveness. The whole invoicing process is made considerably more efficient by e-invoicing. That means it takes a lot less time to generate, transmit, and process invoices—and that is good for cash flow.

4. Fewer human errors.

The risk of commonly occurring mistakes in manual processing is reduced when e-invoicing is used. These errors can lead to significant problems, such as payment delays. For some time now, research has shown that paid invoices with mistakes tend to be paid later than those without mistakes. A recent survey by the European e-Invoicing Service Providers' Association (EESPA) confirms this and also shows that e-invoicing can eliminate many other reasons why invoices might not be paid.

5. Positive impact on the environment.

The environmental advantages of e-invoicing are very significant. For one thing, it's a paperless system. Using it means that businesses can make a significant reduction in the use of paper, which is both expensive and energy-intensive to produce, and which has a massive environmental impact.

6. Pure convenience for accounting and ERP workers.

Integration with your ERP or accounting systems is another great advantage e-invoicing has over traditional methods. E-invoicing is one of the smoothest methods of ERP integration around. It either easily plugs in with your existing financial software or is completely part of it.

Challenges and Solutions in Implementing E-Invoicing

While electronic invoicing is a quite useful tool, several companies, when they first start to use it, find they have challenges. Figuring out what some of those hurdles are and how to get over them is of the utmost importance to enjoy the benefits of an effective and efficient transition to e-invoicing.

1. Technical infrastructure:

Many businesses are not technologically prepared for e-invoicing. This is particularly true for small businesses. They find it particularly difficult to do things like using software to convert a standard-form e-invoice into something that can be paid in an app. Still, e-invoicing is a verifiable part of the revolution in global supply chains' technological framework.

2. Alter management:

Switching from pen-and-paper to digital systems demands a reimagining of work and an understanding of different processes and principles. One way construction businesses can get their personnel comfortable and efficient with digital systems is through structured training and "awareness" programs. It is in the best interest of the company to encourage a culture of digital adoption, both during and after implementation.

3. Cybersecurity:

A serious threat to digital systems (and to paper systems, too) is data compromise, whether from an external or internal source. Construction businesses that go digital are wise to pay careful attention to implementing and maintaining good security practices and controls. One big security advantage digital systems offer is the robustness of the different security mechanisms they use.

4. Integration with Existing Systems:

Integrating e-invoicing systems with existing ERP or accounting software can be complex. Solution: Businesses should work with their software vendors to ensure compatibility and smooth integration. Using standardized APIs can facilitate this process.

Benefits of E-invoicing

The following are some key advantages of E-invoicing:

1. Reduction in errors:

Unlike manual data entry, which is prone to errors, E-invoicing is machine-based and consequently far more accurate.

2. Compliance:

The prime advantage of E-invoicing is that it increases the level of compliance.

3. Efficient Processes:

E-invoicing makes GST returns less complex. The filing process itself is more or less the same, but if you have your e-invoicing system set straight (which is much easier compared to the old system), filing a return can be as simple as a few clicks. When it comes to inputting invoice details into return forms, e-invoicing can auto-populate fields in return forms and minimize manual errors.

4. Better Tax Collection:

Real-time access to transaction data is available to tax authorities. It allows the authorities to access our transaction data a lot sooner than when paper invoices were filed with the return. This way, the government can insta-check and insta-compare transactions across different entities (payee and payers). It makes transparency go a step forward.

5. Reduced Fraud:

E-invoicing minimizes the prospect of scamming the proceedings, mostly through the effective utilization of digital signatures, and by making invoices available in a government RoI via the Internet.

6. Snappier Input Tax Credit:

Businesses claim input tax credits in a jiffy since invoice data is easy to find and accurate.

7. More Money in Your Pocket:

Cost savings achieved by automation come through the investment part of the decision and the lower operating expense.

8. Working together:

Invoice data can be shared more easily, improving the way businesses interact with each other and their accounting systems.

9. Auditing made easy:

Auditing doesn't have to be so hard. When all the invoicing is done in one place and is easily accessible, as in an automated accounting system, for example, audits can be done with remarkable quickness and confidence. That's a huge deal because audits are a really big potential problem for a lot of companies.

10. Saving the Earth:

Using e-invoices is an easy way to do your part for the environment.

The Future of E-Invoicing in India

India's electronic invoicing holds a lot of promise. There are several benefits of e-invoicing. It is advancing continually and expects to achieve widespread adoption. The future looks even better, with a few fun trends and developments you should keep an eye on.

1. Everybody In:

Early on, e-invoicing was only for 'big' businesses. The line was that businesses with a certain amount of turnover had to switch. Then, a new line emerged. 'All businesses will have to switch,' Mendix says. 'Uniformity is essential,' and the step is to go for 'total compliance' to curb tax evasion.

2. Additional Features:

In the future, e-invoicing systems will likely have even more to offer. They might bring with them, for instance, such features as automated reconciliation, instant analytics, and integration with other financial systems. When that happens, businesses can hope for a very powerful tool in their hands—not just for managing the main financial events, but also those that one could hope to handle more efficiently.

3. Worldwide acceptance:

As electronic invoicing gains acceptance around the globe, international enterprises will discover improved inter-business deal management. This will especially benefit and help to streamline businesses that currently have to deal with many different international laws and regulations related to invoicing because e-invoicing is replacing all of those massive volumes of papers with invisible-to-the-naked-eye electrons that can be disputed, if at all, only by court order.

4. Blockchain technology:

Blockchain is an emerging technology that offers the potential to improve the security and transparency of electronic invoicing. Blockchain is essentially a public ledger or record of transactions that is duplicated and distributed across the entire network of computer systems on the blockchain. Each piece of data on the blockchain is secured through a process that involves the collaboration of almost every computer in the network (also known as nodes). When it is secured in this way, e-invoices cannot be easily altered, so we can have confidence in their integrity.

Transform Your Business with E-Invoicing

The business procedures in India get a facelift with e-invoicing. The digitalizing entity helps achieve a slew of corrections; it improves the system’s amenities, shaves off unwarranted costs, enhances operational efficiencies, and makes compliance easy. The initial journeys are fraught with potholes. Yet, when businesses realize the benefits, they, too, embrace e-invoicing. Digital transactions are set to evolve further still to achieve complete transparency, optimum efficiency, and sustainability in businesses.

Would you like to make your billing process much more efficient? Then you should take a look at Swipe. This amazing platform offers all the tools you need to institute e-invoicing. It's secure, innovative, and super easy to use. When you send out an invoice, it not only arrives in your customer's email but also remotely connects to your accounting software. That's the kind of game-changing development that you can be a part of right now. Stop by the Swipe website today to learn more.

Conclusion

E-invoicing is a leap forward for businesses, especially in the GST regime of India. It is a much faster mode of invoicing, ensuring almost real-time availability of payment-related information. E-invoice also has an eco-friendly side with its promise of reducing tons of paper. Extensive testing of the system is still going on, but once the government gets the right kind of feedback from the industry, it will be a part of our lives.

FAQ

Q1. Who is eligible for e-invoicing in GST?

Businesses with turnover above ₹10 crore.

Q2. What is the e-invoice limit?

₹10 crore turnover.

Q3. Why is an e-invoice mandatory?

E-invoicing is mandatory to enhance GST compliance, reduce tax evasion, streamline the invoicing process, and ensure real-time tracking of invoices.

Q4. Who is liable for e-invoice?

Businesses with a turnover exceeding ₹10 crore.

Q5. What are the objectives of e-invoice?

Enhance GST compliance, Reduce tax evasion, Streamline invoicing process, Improve accuracy and reduce errors, and Facilitate real-time invoice tracking.

Q6. What is the main purpose of an e-invoice?

The main purpose of an e-invoice is to ensure accurate, compliant, and efficient invoicing while enabling real-time tracking and reducing tax evasion.

Updated on:

July 18, 2024